BREAKING:🚨 Five arrests made in death of actor Matthew Perry, California police say

Five individuals have been charged in connection with the 2023 death of actor Matthew Perry, according to the US Attorney’s Office.

The charges, announced Thursday morning at a press conference in Los Angeles, come after investigators say they uncovered an underground network of drug sellers and suppliers they allege are responsible for distributing the ketamine, a potentially deadly drug, that killed Perry.

The defendants include two doctors, Perry’s live-in personal assistant and a person referred to by authorities as “The Ketamine Queen,” according to a press release from the US Attorney’s office.

US Attorney Martin Estrada said the defendants “took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues.”

“They knew what they were doing was wrong,” Estrada said.

Three of the five charged have reached a plea agreement.

The other two defendants are Dr. Salvador Plasencia, of Santa Monica, California, and Jasveen Sangha, who Estrada said ran what amounted to “a drug selling emporium” in her home. They were indicted on Wednesday, the US Attorney said.

CNN has reached out to attorneys for Plasencia and Sangha.

The beloved actor who starred as Chandler Bing on “Friends” died in October 2023 at the age of 54. Perry was found floating face down in a stand-alone jacuzzi at his Pacific Palisades home. The actor died as a result of “acute effects of ketamine” and subsequent drowning, according to the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s Office autopsy report.

“Matthew Perry’s journey began with unscrupulous doctors who abused their position of trust because they saw him as a payday, to street dealers who gave him ketamine in unmarked vials,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in the press release. “Every day, the DEA works tirelessly with our federal, state, and local partners to protect the public and to hold accountable those that distribute deadly and dangerous drugs – whether they are local drug traffickers or doctors who violate their sworn oath to care for patients.”

CNN has reached out to representatives for Perry’s foundation and his “Friends” castmates for comment on the charges announced Thursday.

Struggle with addiction

When announcing the charges on Thursday, Estrada said investigators believe Perry “fell back into addiction” in Fall 2023 and noted Perry’s vulnerability as a recovering addict.

Estrada alleged that Plasencia worked with Dr. Mark Chavez to supply Perry with Ketamine, which Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, would inject the actor with despite having no medical training.

Chavez, a 54-year-old doctor from San Diego, “has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine,” according to the release.

Iwamasa, a 59-year-old from Toluca Lake, California, pleaded guilty on August 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, the release said. Authorities allege that Iwamasa also “performed multiple injections on Perry on October 28, 2023 – the day Perry died.”

Eric Fleming, 54, of Hawthorne, California, has also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death, according to the US Attorney. Fleming said in court documents that he distributed the ketamine that killed Perry, which Fleming said he obtained from Sangha, the press release added.

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News Voiced and Reported by: Soha.M